


A New Start

by sburb_player



Category: Most Dangerous Game - Richard Connell
Genre: Continuation, Gen, Hunting, Other, new start
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-07
Updated: 2014-05-07
Packaged: 2018-01-23 23:17:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1583027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sburb_player/pseuds/sburb_player
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I’m a murderer” he thought to himself. “I could’ve waited for a ship to pass by, but I decided to kill a man.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	A New Start

**Author's Note:**

> A continuation of the story "The Most Dangerous Game". It was originally a school assignment, but I liked the ending very much and decided to share it.

Rainsford stretched with a yawn, and a strong smell overcoming him. He scrunched up his face with distaste. Looking over the foot of the bed, Rainsford noticed the body of General Zaroff lying motionless. He hadn’t kept the promise of feeding him to the dogs, not because it was too gruesome a process, but because he was terrified by the remaining hounds. Rainsford had escaped them more than once and feared that they may still want please their now gone master.  
“What shall I do with it?” he mused aloud to himself. The only dead bodies he had worked with had been that of beasts not of men. Surely he needn’t prepare Zaroff to be mounted on a wall. He drew himself out of the fancy bed. The silken sheets had been a pleasure to sleep on. Making his way over to the body, Rainsford gagged. All of his years as a hunter he had never smelt something worse. He found a cloth to cover his nose and mouth before gripping the man’s collar. He hauled him out of the room, but wasn’t sure where to go from there.  
After quite some time he decided to take the body outside. One thought kept pumping through his mind.  
“I’m a murderer” he thought to himself. “I could’ve waited for a ship to pass by, but I decided to kill a man.” With a thump he deposited Zaroff between two trees. A loud wail split the air. All attention was then directed to the cellar doors a mere 3 yards away.  
“Is there more of his staff down there?” his thoughts were fretful. “What will they do when they find me with the blood of their leader on my hands?” Rainsford began to tremble as worries raced through his mind. He went towards the cellar, step by terrifying step. The doors began to shake as if someone was trying to push through, and another muffled sounded from below.  
“Who’s in there?” his voice quavered. Only another muffled shout greeted him. He tread carefully forward, closing in on the cellar. He drew the gun he had used on Zaroff, aiming it with the precision of a trained hunter. With a swift movement he removed the bar and sprang backwards. A man and woman burst through the doors. They were both gagged and crudely tied. Keeping the gun aimed at them, he started to undo their bonds.  
“Who are you?” he repeated once both mouths were free of their gags. Both took in a deep breath and smacked their lips before speaking.  
“Mr. and Mrs. Parker, We came here for our honeymoon. The fliers were extravagant, and our private captain was very generous. We had no idea at all what we were in store for.” The man’s voice was scratchy as if he hadn’t spoken in weeks. Rainsford reminded himself that they may not have.  
“What flier?” he prompted. “Will there be any more people coming here?” They looked at each other unsure of what to tell this stranger who hadn’t even bothered with formalities. Rainsford cleared his throat embarrassedly.  
“Excuse me for not introducing myself. I’m Mr. Rainsford, you may have heard of me.” The couple’s faces showed that they did not. “I have published a lot of hunting books. Oh, don’t worry. General Zaroff and Ivan are both long gone. I guess you could say I’m the Calvary.” He added onto his original statement after seeing their look of terror at the word ‘hunt’.  
“We found out about the island from the usual door to door salesman. He offered us a time share, at a fair price too, and we jumped on it. It was absolutely perfect until..” Mrs. Parker gestured at the discarded ropes on the ground.  
Rainsford invited them inside, telling them about how he had wound up here and that they were welcome to stay with him. They didn’t choose to and used one of Zaroff’s boats to go back to their homes.  
“What shall I do here?” he mused aloud. Then an idea struck him. How had he not noticed before? It was almost as if it were staring him in the face! “Jaguars!” He exclaimed. “That’s what the General came to hunt, and I shall too. Surely then, something will be accomplished on this god-forsaken island!”  
He busied himself preparing for the hunt, and cooking meals. Rainsford gave himself no time to think about the crime he committed. It was done and over with was it not? Why reflect on a troubling topic when there were things he could be doing?  
He settled into bed after fetching all the needed supplies for a hunting trip, and scrubbing down the entire mansion. He had tried not to think about the blood he was cleaning up, but dastardly thoughts did cross his mind "Is hunting just the murder of animals instead of a sport? Why are humans off-limits?"  
This night of sleep wasn't as peaceful as the last. His dreams were scoured with nightmares of running and hiding. Rainsford was not in his body, but those of varying animals. He woke in a sweat and clutched at his head, trying to banish the scenarios from his mind. They instead decided to play over and over again in his mind.  
The most vivid of them was from the view point of a jaguar limping away with a hunter on it's tail. The creature eventually gave up, seeing as the pressure on its wounded leg was too much. As a last effort it hid in a spot of brush. The most terrifying part was seeing his own face with a wicked grin, pushing the ferns aside and pointing a rifle at the cat. The night terror had ended with a loud bang.  
Rainsford leaped out of the bed and ran downstairs to the hunting supplies located at the foot of the stairs. He swiftly removed any guns and blades from the pack opting to grab a taser, some tranquilizer pistols, and a few nets from the weaponry room. He didn't discard his small pocket knife, however. It had gotten him out of too many jams to not be present on his body at all times. He postponed the hunt, deciding instead to construct a large cage.  
Rainsford had always admired the great beasts, so hunting them seemed th only way to get up close to the mighty cats. Now he realized that capturing and studying the jaguars was a less destructible way to go about that.  
The first attempt at capturing one had failed. Rainsford had learned to try to net the cat first before shooting the dart. The second time around he managed to snag one. He freed it into the cage and left out a piece of raw meat from the meat locker. He grabbed some fresh papers and started documenting how the jaguar ate the meat, how it moved about the cage, and how it looked at him. It- no she he reminded himself- looked exactly like the one in his dream. She also looked grateful to Rainsford. He wrote at the tope of the page "Her name shall be dawn, for I am creating a new beginning for myself starting with her."

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment and kudos if you want more added onto this. There's a lot more I can do with this story line, but motivation is hard to come by.


End file.
